


Undersight: The Wartime Prequel

by DaveElizabethStrider, Faleep, The_Useless_Cucumber



Series: Undersight: The Series [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Bags of flour included, Cause Character Death, Character Death, Did I mention Character Death, Fullmetal Alchemist style rankings, I Don't Even Know, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Military, Not an overly happy story, Oh yeah Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Some Humor, Violence, War, What else would you expect?, humans are dicks, really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 11:40:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8978194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaveElizabethStrider/pseuds/DaveElizabethStrider, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faleep/pseuds/Faleep, https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Useless_Cucumber/pseuds/The_Useless_Cucumber
Summary: The War was hard to avoid. No matter what your race was. The humans didn't care, still upset over the previous war caused by the Atlanteans. They saw all monsters as things to kill. Innocent and pacifist monsters were slaughtered in their homes. No one could ignore that.The War was unavoidable. Many species of monsters tried. But none succeeded. At least one of each of the thousands of species of monsters joined. But they were easily outnumbered and outgunned. And it's not like humans are known to fight fair.





	

Grillby didn't know what drove him to join. The war did not directly affect him or his family. They were all safe on their little, rather secluded island. And humans would be stupid to try to attack them so close to a volcano. Really, the war didn't involve their people. It was a war born of fear, after all.

Every monster race knew that grief and anger is what drove the Atlanteans, a humanoid race of fish monsters, to declare the first war. They had lost their princess, who was no older than 7 human years. The King had flown into a rage and blamed humans for his loss. The Atlantean Queen had tried to calm her husband and, inevitably, failed. His anger had spread to the rest of the kingdom and soon a war had broke out between them and the humans. It was a losing battle that left unrepairable damage in Human/Monster relations.

Atlantis disappeared within a month, the huge city sinking under water to never be seen again. It was like an entire species never existed except in memory. They had left all other monster races to fix the damage they caused. An impossible task.

Many nations tried but the humans suffered due to the war. They had grown distrustful of monsters entirely and refused to sort things. Not even the King of all Monsterkind could fix it. Not that he was good for much other than starting fights. That was the popular opinion. Grillby did have high hopes for his son, at least.

But still, it was only a matter of time before war broke out again. The humans were angry at every monster and wanted them gone. They didn't even bother to declare war properly. A small army was sent to a small village of pacifist monsters. There were no survivors.

Monsters had been rightfully outraged. There had been no warning to the slaughter. A vigil had been held for the village as an army was gathered. Many monster kingdoms did not have an army. They fell into the pacifist group. They didn't fight. But they still were forced to.

By the time the human army attacked again, monsters were a little more prepared. There were still heavy casualties, but some monsters made it out alive. It was an improvement.

He couldn't remember when monster kingdoms started officially working together as one big army. It just happened. Suddenly monsters were being mixed together. It was found they worked better that way. Grillby found himself wanting to join.

His father had said no to that idea. It didn't matter that Grillby was an adult now. He still wasn't allowed to help the war effort in any way. Flame elementals were staying neutral. Cherry had, oddly enough, given him some of the maple woodchips she had been saving later that night.

A year later, he had asked his father again and he had once again been denied. It still hadn't sunk into the old fashioned flame that the outcome of this war could possibly affect them too. His father never did look toward distant futures.

It had been a quiet day when the boat arrived a few months later. Unsurprisingly, a lot of the older flames prepared to attack. They didn't take kindly to intruders. They didn't relax even a little bit when monsters came ashore. Though it did make Grillby relax. They didn't mean harm.

They were in the army. That much was easy to see. They were dressed in uniform. It was hard to miss. His father wasn't pleased to see the monsters. They kept a safe distance, regarding them all. To an average monster, a line of fire elementals glaring at you might have been enough to scare them enough to leave. These monsters merely looked down the line until one spotted his father and walked right towards him.

“I take it you're the one in charge, yeah?” The air felt tense as Grillby turned his head to watch his father. The old flame’s anger was controlled as he glared down the monster. A young tortoise monster. Probably around 70 human years.

“Yes. I am. What do you want?” His father was far from pleased if his tone was anything to go by. The tortoise paid no mind.

“Well that's good. Got the right it right the first time. I've heard you get offended easily. Y'know how it is,” His father stiffened angrily, “Anyway. I'm sure you know why I'm here. Have ya thought about the Prince’s offer?”

“Yes. And we aren't interested.”

“...Seriously? Boy, they said ya'd be hard to convince. Really, that offer is extremely generous. Especially since he just wants some help.”

“Sorry. But no one willingly volunteered. Meaning we aren't interested.”

“Really? So everyone here agrees to be neutral in a war that can negatively affect every monster? Not even one disagrees? That seems unlikely.”

“That's how it is.” His father’s voice was flat, watching as the tortoise looked down the line of silent elementals.

“I mean, if ya say so. We could really use the help, y'know. Even one willing elemental is enough to boost troop morale. Ya guys really make it seem like you don't care what happens to the rest of monster kind. Especially since ya are the only race left who don't got a single person fighting in this war.”

His father just grunted, obviously wanting this guy gone. The tortoise just waved a hand and slowly started to make his way back to the ship.

“I'll let you be then. We won't come back.”

Honestly, Grillby wasn't sure what had compelled him to speak. He really shouldn't have. Not with his father right there.

“Wait!” He almost wanted to slap his hand over his mouth area. Especially with how his father turned to glare at him. Almost like a warning to keep quiet. But the tortoise just turned and smiled at him.

“Yes, lad? Ya got something to say?” He took a deep breath, determined not to back down now.

“This… This is to join the war effort, correct?” He tried to keep his voice even. The tortoise just laughed and grinned at him.

“Well it's most certainly not to race bunnies, if that's what ya are thinkin!”

“...I want to join.” There was silence that followed that made Grillby uncomfortable. Then the tortoise started laughing. It was cheerful yet it made him feel like an idiot. He shouldn't have spoken up.

“Well would ya look at that! Looks like that old spark was wrong. Someone does care. What's your name, sport?”

Grillby blinked a few times, caught off guard. Yet his mood lifted anyway as he smiled, “Grillby.”

“Well, Grillby. Watcha still doing there? Ya gotta go pack a bag if you wanna come. Unless you got an invisible one strapped to your back already.”

Grillby nodded and began to turn away. But stopped when his arm was tightly grabbed by his father.

“He's not going anywhere!”

“Now sir. There ain't no need for yelling. And besides, the boy is clearly old enough to make his own decisions.”

“I am his father-”

“That does not mean as much as you think it does, sparky.”

“You have no right to tell me how to run my family.” Grillby tried to pull away. His father's grip was starting to hurt. He needed to let go. Yet his father paid him no mind. He just continued to argue with the tortoise.

“Wow, Grillby. You really got yourself into trouble.” He paused his struggle as his sister seemingly magically appeared next to him. Cherry smiled at him and winked, showing him the fact she was carrying what was obviously his bag as well as her own. He almost wanted at yell at her for going through his stuff but she just pushed her way through the line towards the tortoise monster.

“Hey shelled guy. Can I join?” Both the tortoise and his father fell silent as Cherry walked on, uncaring.

“Wh- Yeah. Of course. But ya are only allowed one bag.”

“I know. The other one’s dumbo’s.” She motioned toward Grillby. He felt his father’s grip loosen in his general shock, allowing Grillby to finally pull his arm away. He watched his father glare at his sister.

“Cherry. What do you think you're doing?”

“Joining the army. Duh.”

“No you are not. Women do not fight. Get back here. Now.” Grillby slowly slid backward and walked farther down the line as they argued back and forth. He pushed back through the line and started walking toward his sister and the tortoise, glancing almost nervously at his father who was a few steps closer to his destination than he was before. He and Cherry were still arguing. It bought him enough time to reach the pair and take his bag from Cherry. Their father looked furious. Not that that was anything new, really.

The tortoise sighed and looked at him with a grin though. He seemed friendly enough, “Well, I really do think we should get going, right sport?”

Grillby just nodded and tugged on Cherry’s arm. Just enough to get her attention as the tortoise monster started walking away. They followed, almost silently as their father shouted at them to come back. And for the first time, as they boarded the ship, Grillby found himself ignoring him without fear.


End file.
